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Assemblies
Assemblies are the combination of a number of products to form a single functional component or activity. They make up all aspects of construction processes. They are the smallest "end result".
Assemblies also have a constant information model. Whilst an Assembly will almost always have components, those components rarely exist in their own right outside the Assembly (eg a door lock, a tap or reinforcement) although they may reoccur as components of other Assemblies.
Also whilst an Assembly will always belong to some larger object the relationship is not as strong. A door will invariably occur in a wall but there are many walls without doors, whereas there are few doors without door locks or other closing devices.
There are other components such as Elements, Work Sections and Products.
The difference between Assemblies and Elements or Sub-elements is that elements and sub-elements are principally concerned with function alone (eg column) and relate to a complete structure. Assemblies, as physical objects, non-physical objects or activities collectively make up Elements.
Assemblies differ from Work sections (concrete) or work items in that each Assembly may involve several Work sections. The names of Assemblies often represent a combination of function (sub-element) and work (eg concrete column) . The sub-elements for a complete structure may consist of many of the same or similar Assemblies (eg all concrete columns or a combination of concrete and steel) depending on the design solution proposed.
Assemblies also differ fundamentally from Products as the latter cease being products once installed into a project when they become Assemblies and then not without some combination with an installation "product". By example a simple Coat hook product only becomes a Coat hook assembly by combining it with a Labour product in order to install it.
